Ten months before an election in which Democrats in Tennessee want to unseat U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, one candidate is already sounding cries of foul play toward his party.

Larry Crim, who lost his bid in 2012 to become his party’s nominee against Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, complained in a news release on Sunday that Democratic leaders already were favoring a candidate who only last week announced plans to run.

The Nashville counseling company executive was referring to the announcement by Terry Adams, a Knoxville attorney and owner of a title company, who held a press conference at the state Capitol on Friday to kick off his campaign for the Senate seat.

Adams cited key support from top Democrats in the state, including current party chairman Roy Herron, who last week called Adams a “strong candidate.”

That support upset Crim, who lost the nomination last time to Mark Clayton, an unknown flooring installer from Nashville.

“After being on the campaign trail across Tennessee for over a year, though I’ve seen Herron lots of places. I’ve yet to see this guy who says he is a ‘serious candidate’ at any events,” Crim said in the release.

On Sunday, Herron responded to Crim’s claims that the party had already endorsed a candidate.

“It was not an endorsement,” Herron said. “I didn’t and the party doesn’t endorse any candidate until the primary voters speak.”

He said having several strong candidates is good for the process.

“Quite frankly, I did not know that Mr. Crim was still running,” he said. “I hadn’t seen or heard anything from him in some months.”

In his news release, Crim said that his campaign for the seat continues.

“I have been to 75 counties in Tennessee meeting with local party officials, speaking at community events, festivals and civic functions for over 12 months now,” Crim said.